Topical skin barrier compositions, hereinafter referred to as “topical skin barriers”, are known in the medical arts. Topical skin barriers have been used, inter alia, for the treatment of bedridden patients' skin where irritation from moisture, urine, diarrhea, feces, enzymatic drainage, exudate, dust, dirt, and the like (hereinafter, collectively, “moisture and waste”) is problematic, painful, and unfortunately commonplace. Patients' skin, regardless of being intact or non-intact, ideally needs to be protected from moisture and waste to prevent skin breakdown, promote healing, and provide comfort.
Ultimately it is the role of topical skin barriers to protect skin exposed to moisture and waste, since enzymes present in waste can quickly lead to skin breakdown. While any topical skin barrier that protects skin from exposure to moisture and waste, acting as a barrier therefrom, may be beneficial, an ability to remain adhered to both intact and non-intact skin is obviously critical to satisfactory performance. Furthermore, known topical skin barriers are often substantially opaque after application to skin which does not allow the condition of the skin to be visually assessed. This can lead to a perceived need to aggressively remove selected portions of the topical skin barrier to visually inspect the skin thereunder; such aggressive removal, in turn, can lead to further injury to the skin.
An example of a known topical skin barrier is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Applic. Pub. No. 2003/0091540 titled “Compositions and Methods for Delivering Antibacterial, Antifungal and Antiviral Ointments to the Oral, Nasal or Vaginal Cavity”. Disclosed therein are ointments and methods for treating oral and vaginal fungal and yeast infections. Another is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,849,277 titled “Composition for Moist Skin”. Therein, a composition for treating skin in the presence of excessive moisture is an ointment or paste including zinc oxide, a fungicide, a bactericide, and water-absorbing macromolecular materials in a water-immiscible vehicle.
Although the known compositions have provided, to some degree, acceptable adhesion and barrier properties, they have however been inadequate in several respects. These inadequacies include limitations to certain applications rather than for the skin in general (e.g., the aforecited Pub. No. 2003/0091540) and requirement of a bactericide and a base cream containing water (e.g., the aforecited U.S. Pat. No. 6,849,277). Perhaps even more importantly, known compositions have heretofore not been sufficiently transparent to permit visual inspection.
Therefore, there has existed a long-felt need for a substantially transparent, anhydrous, topical skin barrier for general skin care which is not limited in application to a specific area of a patient's body. Such a product would also optionally include antifungal and pain relief properties. The topical skin barrier would need to adhere well to skin and provide a good barrier in an environment of moisture and waste. Moreover, it would be desirable for such a product to have “detectable transparency”, thereby rendering it detectable to an observer while being substantially transparent to permit visual observation of the skin thereunder. There has also existed a long-felt need for a relatively simple and effective in vitro method of evaluating the efficacy of topical skin barriers in protecting patients' skin from moisture and waste, and in their adhesion to skin.